Automatic swift.



W. E. SOMERVILLE.

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W. E. SOMBRVILLE.

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UNITED STATES' PATENT onirica.

WILLIAM E. SOMEBVILLE, F COAL CITY, ILLINOIS.

AUTOMATIC SWIFT.

Application filed August 27. 1910.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, iVILLIMr E. SOMER- vnaa-z. a citizen of the UnitedStates resid- 4 ing at Coal City, in the county of rundy and State ofIllinois, have invented new and useful improvements in Automatic Swifts,

of which the following is a fall, clear, concise, and exact description,reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in automatic swifts or devices bymeans of which rolls or coils of wire are unwound,

`@anul has for its object the reduction of a L, device by the use ofwhiei the tangling. snarling, or breaking of the wire while in theprocess of being unwound is prevented.

A further object is the irodnction of a device that can be adjuste to tany size of coil of wire.`

A further object is the )reduction of a device that will automaticadlyadjust itself to the constantly increasing internal diameter of the coilas the wire is unwound.

A further object is the production of a device that can be cheaply'manufactured, and consists of comparatively few parts, and is not liableto be broken or get out of order.

These, and other objects sach as may hereinafter a Jpear, are obtainedby my device, an embo :ment of which is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a side elevation of my device inoperative position; Fig. S2 represents a. top plan view of my device inoperative position: Fig. 3 represents an enlarged sectional view,showing only the swift and base; Fig. 4 represents an enlarged sectionalview similar to Fig. 3, with the arms extended; Fin'. 5 is a detail viewot the locking collar: Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the line 6 6 ofFig. looking in the direction of the arrows; and Fig. i is a top planview of my device with the wire and base removed.

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts in the several figures ofthe drawings.

Referring now to the drawings, in Fig. 1 l have shown a supporting frameA, on which is mounted a swift B, carrying a coil or roll of wire C. Thespeed of the swift may be regulated by means of u suitable brake D. Theframe A comprises a hase 8, an upright 9 bored to receive an Specicetionof Letters Patent.

Patented Dee. 29, 19.1.4.

Serial No. 579,303.

upright stationary shaft l0. Au arm 11 projects from tlu` upright ouwhich is the supporting arm l2 carrying the tension wheel li. A tubularshaft or sleeve llsurrounds the shaft l0. on the base of which above theupright Sl is keyed a brake wheel l5. Any suitable. braking means may beemployed, for instance, a brake U5 operated through a i'oot lever l?hung on the support 1'2 and secured at 1S to the upright ll), the upperend oi' which is connected to the brake support .80 by means ol hooks2l. Referring,r now to the swift proper, a circular base or support2112, provided with a plurality of radially extending openings or slotsl2-i. is bolted to the hase collar .24 lveyed on the sleeve. .\n uppercollar Q5 is also keyed on the sleeve, and the central collar 2li isloosely mounted on thel .sleeve between the collars 2li aud .'\nordinary split collar S27. provided with inwardly projecting lugs orpins QS, is mounted on the sleeve above the central collar. The sleeveis provided with opposately disposed openings or sockets Ql within whichthe lugs or pins ot' the collar tit, and by means ot' hich the distanceof the upward movement of the central collar may be regulated. Aplurality of upright supporting bars or arms 30. in this form, six innumber, are arranged concentrieally about the central shaft, the lowerends passing through the openings Q3 in the base Qi! and connected tothe. collars on the central sleeve by means of links 3l. 'lhe links areaivotally mounted at their inner ends to the collars L2-t, .25 und 2Gand at their out/:r ends pivotally mounted on the castings 232 securedto the inner faces of the bars or arms Pit), the axes of' the linksbeing horizontal so that tlu` links shall be tree to swing in verticalra dial planes. livotally mounted on the lower end of one of the bars B0is a dosr 3:5 and on the base .12 a corresponding rack or series ofopeningsl 2M is provided in position to engage the end of the dog and tolimit the outward movement ol the arms 30 when the machine is not inoperation.

In the operation of my device, the positions of the arms 30 are adjustedto the proper size by adjusting the collar 2T at the proper position onthe sleeve and the middle yoke or collar slid up or down as required toaccommodate the size ol the coil to be nnwound, it being simplynecessary in placing the coil in position about the loo ltlfi llt) shaftto permit the lugs or pins to enter the proper sockets and clamp thecollar in place. The dog 233 is then thrown out of engagement and theinner end of the Wire is carried over the4 tension wheel 13 andconnected with a spool or bobbin on which it is to be rewound, and asthe wire is wound on the bobbin, the swift revolves` the speed of theswift of course being regulated b v the speed of the bobbin. As theswift revolves and the inner layers of wire are uncoiled. centrifugalaction forces the arms il() outwardly against the inner face of the coiland keeps the mat all times in such position. son of low speed thecentrifugal force is not suilicicnt at times, the wire will slipdownwardly slightly on the swift and the arms kept in engagement orpressing against the inner face of the coil.

Tn thc ordinary tapering swifts without movable arms the wire. willgradually slip down on the swift as far as it can et, and then unlessthe speed at which the obbins, on which the wire is being wound, isreduced. the wire in the coil will be apt to tangle and break. It hasalways been necessary heretofore to gradually reduce the speed as thecoil is nearly unwound, but in my improved device the uniform high rateof speed can be maintained at all times owing to the fact that thecentrifugal actions keeps the arms always in close contact with theinner face of the coil.

My improved swift is instantly adjustable. to accomniodate all sizes ofcoils of wire and can be run at a much higher rate of speed than ispossible with any swift on the market, and in addition thereto, it ispossible to place the wire under any desired degree of tension withoutdanger of breaking or tangling the wire. By the use of my improved swiftconstant pressure is maintained on the inside of the coil with a gradualincrease in diameter as the internal diana-.tor of the coil increases.It will be seen also that the feature of having the lower ends of thecoil supporting uprights Il() work in radial slots Q3 in the base plates.2 is important in that this construction insures the maintenance of thespaced relation of the aforesaid bars 30; in other words, the slots inthe base plate afford radial guides for the bars and thus prevent thestrains of supporting the coil and unwinding the same forcing these barsout of position. lt will also be understood that my apparatus isintended especially for use in connection with wire of high carbonsteel, which wire is very easily tangled. In operation the swiftrevolves at a very high speed which keeps the hank or coil on the swiftin constant vibration, and between this vibration and the centrifugalaction of the upright bars, the hunk or coil is so held ln the eventthat, by rea-` that the inner coils that are being unwou'nd have noopportunity to get tangled duif the unwinding. lt is important that tlwire shall be unwound under tension, which tension can be applied by theattendant by means of the manually operable brake; and it is desirablealso that the direction of pull on the wire shall be downwardly over thehank or coil. as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l. the wire in thisinstance passing under the guide. roller lil instead ot' above it asshown in full lines. ln view ol. the high speed. if the wire wereunwound from the outside of the bank or coil, the tension would causethe wire to be pulled deep into the coil and thus tangle and break thewire. lf wire of this kind is lo be unwound from the outside of thecoil` the unwinding action would have. to be performed very slowly inorder to prevent tangling` especially if it be unwound without theproper tension be ing maintained on the wire. w,

wWhile l have illustrated a meansl thi-ois,y the medium of which the.desired result may be obtained` it is to be understood that l do notlimit myself to such specific construction. as other forms are possiblewithout departing from the spirit ol' my invention. which is` broadlyspeaking, the. automatic regulation of the circumference ol` the swiftinert any required conditions under which the swift is used.

l claim:

l. swift comprising a central vertical rotatable shaft. a series ofupwardlycon lill) verging coil-su|n orting bars spaced around saidshaft. a series of links connecting each of said bars to said shaft,these links having a free vertical swinging action, whereby said coilsupporting bars shall be free to move 105 bodily outward by the.centrifugal action to compensate. for the gradual increase in the innerdiameter of the coil, means for variably reta rding the rotation of saidsl and means for radially guiding and lally supporting the, lower endsof said coilsupporting bars in their radial movement.

A swift. comprising a vertical station ary shaft, a sleeve-sha ftrotatively sn'pported thm-con` a series of upwardly coir lif" vergingcoil supporting bars spaced around said sleeve-slmft. a plurality ol'verticallyswinging links connecting each of said bars with said sleevesha ft, whereby the rotation of the. sleeve. shaft will cause the coilsupporting bars to bodily move radially outwardly by centrifugal actionto compensate for the gradual increase in the inner dianr eter of thecoil of wire supported on the bars. aml means for variably retarding the125 rotation of said sleeve shaft to maintain the proper tension of the.wire as it comes from the coil.

B. swift comprising a vertical stationary shaft, a sleeve-shaftrotatively sup lll() 'ed thereon, a series of upwardly-convergingoil-supporting bars spaced around said sleeve-shaft, a pluralitv ofvertically swinginar links connecting each of said bars with saidsleeve-shaft, whereby the rotation of the sleeve shaft will cause thecoil supporting bars to bodily move radially outwardly b v centrifugalaction to compensate for the gradual increase in the inner diameter ofthe coil of wire supported on the bars, an adjustable stop-collar onsaid sleeve shaft, a sliding collar below said stop collar, a series oflinks connecting said sliding collar to the coil-supporting bars, andmeans for manually retarding the rotation of said sleeve shaft tomaintain the proper tension of the wire as it comes from the coil.

4. A swift comprising la central vertical rotatable shaft, a series ofupwardly-converging' coil-supporting bars spaced around said shaft, aseries of links connecting each "auf sind bars to said shaft, theselinks having lliree vertical swinging action, whereby said coilsupporting' bars shall be free to move bodily outwardly by thecentrifugal action to compensate for the gradual increase in the innerdiameter of the coil, means for radially guiding and laterallysupporting 'said coil supporting,r bars at their lower Copias of thispatent my be obtained for ave cent: each, by addressing the Commissionerai retenu.

Washington, D. C.

